Motorists traveling north on Oak Park Avenue may have noticed something amiss when passing under the Metra/CTA train tracks. A couple of the fancy, white and green letters that spell “OAK PARK,” adorning the viaduct are missing and have been since June.
A couple of months ago, a truck traveling north slammed into the viaduct at South Boulevard, according to Village Engineer Jim Budrick. This is not be confused with the truck that smashed into the very same viaduct on the North Boulevard side while traveling southbound on Aug. 13.
The village’s insurance paid out about $40,000 for the accident, according to Budrick, which they’re using to replace the two fallen letters, and repair some damaged electrical work. They hope to have the viaduct back to its former state in the next few weeks — ready to be slammed again.
Oak Park first spruced up the underpass about two years ago, spending $400,000 to add decorative signage, LED lights, panels along the concrete walls underneath, and a new paint job.